Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
Chodesh Tov! Best wishes for the new month! This Shabbat marks the beginning of the month of Nissan, a month of renewal, of the Exodus from slavery to freedom, an optimistic time and a harbinger of better things to come. When we light candles this evening, we will not only be bringing in Shabbat, but the new month as well.
This week I was privileged to interview someone who taught me a lesson about renewal that is appropriate no matter how old we might happen to be. Her name is Duba Gobregritz and she is 100 years and five months old. She is a Holocaust survivor who was born in Ukraine and lived there her entire life until now. When the situation in Kiev worsened, she called the Zaka emergency response unit in Ukraine which, together with Magen David Adom, embarked on a mission to rescue her.
It took 11 hours to convey her by ambulance to Moldova, at a safe distance from the war. In an interview with her and Zaka staff member Valerie Dickstein, who helped rescue her, I asked Duba where she was going next and she said: "Israel. Your country." But then she immediately corrected herself: "That is, our country."
At the end, I asked if she knew how to say something in Hebrew. She said "Yisrael shalom" and then turned to Valerie and asked: "How do you say thank you (spasiba) in Hebrew?" "Todah," Valerie answered for her.
I saw with my own eyes a 100-year-old woman who is beginning to learn a new language which, in fact, is her own language. I saw living proof that you can be old at the age of 20 or young at the age of 100 and five months. And that it's always possible to start over and be renewed.
Have a blessed month of Nissan!
